Angiogenesis and prediction of sarcoma formation by plastic.

The capacity to induce new formation of capillaries was tested in cells attached to plastics. It is known that large plastic coverslips implanted s.c. in CBA mice produce sarcomas more rapidly and in a greater number than do small coverslips. We observed that within a few weeks after implantation the cells attached to the large coverslips showed an angiogenic capacity about 5-fold greater than that of the cells attached to the small coverslips. Months before a sarcoma was evident, angiogenesis induced by the cells attached to the large coverslips predicted the high risk of neoplastic transformation by large coverslips.